A guide to healthy weight gain in infants!

0 to 1 years

Created by
Parentune Support
Updated on May 23, 2017

Weight gain is one of the most common worries of a first-time mom and always keeps her on the edge. There are several questions a mother is constantly battling with - is my baby gaining enough weight, is breastfeeding enough and what can I do to push my baby’s weight up etc. Here are a few tips on how to increase your baby’s weight in a healthy, hygienic way.

From 0 to 6 months

Ideally, an infant gains enough weight on just breast milk, till the age of 6 months, as mother’s milk is a complete meal for an infant. So, if the infant has doubled her birth weight at 5 months, there is nothing to worry. But in case this does not happen, consult the paediatrician for advice as before 4-6 months, the infant is not given any top feed. Breast milk is an important meal for your baby to build a strong immunity to fight common illnesses beyond just a healthy weight gain. If you feel that breastfeeding is a challenge owing either due to baby latching issue or joining work, you can use a comfortable breast pump to express your milk. This also ensures that the milk supply doesn’t go down because of reduced breastfeeding.

From 6 months till 9 months

Once you start giving semi-solid food, then certain foods can be included in your baby’s diet to specifically push her weight up. These are generally the energy dense and protein rich foods.

1) Focus on cereals - this means you need to give more of cereals like rice, rice flakes, suji, sago, sprouted ragi powder etc. Give it to the baby in the form of porridge, kheer or phirni. Rice water is the first way to introduce cereals to your young one. So ensure that the feeding bottles and other baby utensils are properly sterilized in a steam steriliser to kill all germs (since boiling them doesn’t kill all of them). If your baby has a strong immunity, she will gain sufficient weight. Remember that if you want to ensure a healthy weight gain in your baby, ensure proper hygiene in all baby utensils.

2) Increase intake of starchy fruits and vegetables- fruits such as banana and vegetables like potato, sweet potatoes should be given to increase weight. Vegetables should be steamed and mashed, and given with little butter/ghee on them. Similarly, a banana can be well mashed and given as it is or with jaggery powder/ mashed dates, or full cream milk.

Steaming is much better than boiling these foods as steaming preserves more nutrition and is tastier too. An easy way to prepare steamed food is to use the Philips Avent Combined Steamer & Blender. You can easily steam and then blend the foods in the same jar.

3) Egg yolk and mutton/chicken stew- If your paediatrician permits introducing egg yolk, then half boil an egg and take out the yolk. Then add it to steamed and mashed potatoes/overcooked mashed rice. Add a teaspoon of butter/ghee to make a complete nourishing meal. You can even steam the meats in the Combined Steamer Blender.

4) Pulses- best tolerated green gram/mung dal can be given boiled and well mashed with a spoon of oil/butter/ghee added to it. Around 7-8 months you can start with khichdi of both dalia/rice with dals and veggies like potato, carrot etc. add to the khichdi.

5) Milk products like curd/yogurt- Use full cream milk to set the curd. Give with mashed dates/banana or jaggery to the infant, especially during afternoon hours.

At around this time, the baby should triple her birth weight once. If the weight gain is slower, you can focus on following foods:

1) Cereals- besides porridge, kheer and khichdi you can start with chapatti mashed with dal/chicken soup/scrambled egg. You can also give idli/rice with a spoon of butter/ghee. Sometimes, halwa of atta/suji can also be given.

3) Vegetables- use more of potatoes and sweet potatoes. They can be added to parantha, dosa, khichri, soups or to other vegetables. You can also make halwa of these vegetables.

4) Eggs- can be given as scrambled with added milk/fresh malai, or an egg can be added to soup.

5) Fish/poultry/meat – stews and well-steamed meat, mashed, can be given to infants, provided your paediatrician agrees to it.

6) Home-made paneer- Closer to the 1st birthday, the baby can be introduced to fresh home-made paneer and mild processed cheese. You can mash paneer finely with jaggery or powdered sugar, roll it into laddos and offer as finger foods or a quick snack to the baby. If giving cheese, do so in limited quantities as cheese is very high in salt.

7) Full-fat milk-based puddings like rice kheer/dates and raisins (cooked and mashed) custard/vermicelli kheer/gajar kheer can be given to the baby to push up his weight.

Note: Apart from the foods that you may introduce to your baby for a healthy weight gain, it is also important to know that you are taking care to build your baby’s immunity, as a child with strong immunity will not fall sick often and will have a constant healthy weight gain throughout the growing years. So invest in a high quality sterilizer like the Philips Avent 3-in-1 Sterilizer and rest assured that your baby will be protected from harmful germs and will have a healthy weight gain.

Points to remember:

1) Only till the age of 2 years, additional ghee/butter/oil can be used for children. In case the child’s weight is on the higher side, please use these in moderation.

2) Whole cream milk to be used till 1-2 years only. After 2 years or if the child is on normal weight, use toned milk only.

3) While giving above foods, give only little amounts first, to check for any allergy. If there is no allergic reaction only then continue with those foods.

today we visited doctor.. and she said not to give baby any dairy products like milk, curd panner ...we get raw cow milk ...and make curd, panner at home.. still she said protein in cow milk n other products is not digestible for babies till 1 year age.... can someone share their experiences ...advice on substitutes of dairy products to supplement protein needs of 8months old baby.

my son is 2 yrs and two months old by now. we have followed a regular and balance diet along with breastfeeding. By now eats almost everything we eat . i mean a regular nutritional food including banana, milk fruits rice , dal meat, egg etc. however his weight is little bit less. kindly suggest

@Shirley, let your child take his own time to come to slightly solid food. Meanwhile just ensure that there are tiny lumps that he is able to chew. In addition, you may have to show him how to chew the food so that he understands. Because everything can't be given in a porridge form.

@Shreya By that standard, a sip of vodka would probably do no harm either but would you give it? It's all about conditioning a baby's mind and body to accept healthy over unhealthy. And jaggery is almost identical to sugar, though it does offer minerals. Please google the nutritional value. All in all, one may practice his own safety standards with one's own child, but don't offer ideas that are not necessary to others. Offering sugar or jaggery to your child is unnecessary.

@Manav Yes I found it and it was mentioned in the age group of 10-12 month old babies. Little bit of sugar won't lead to bad cholesterol and babies are growing up they are active and need energy. Problem starts when they are little older and rely on junk food and don't play any active sports. The age range between 10-12 months old baby can have these many varieties of food to ensure healthy weight gain.

@Shreya To me, a doctor who keeps himself/herself abreast with the latest research based norms is a 'proper doctor. ' Process of scientific research has changed, it's not like before. Needless to say that he/she should have the education and experience. Also, please read about the ill effects of refined sugar. Naturally occurring sugars are fine. If you really want to understand diabetes or obesity, you should try to understand what carbs, fats and proteins are meant to do in the human body. The whole world now knows that the enemy is not really fat, it's the 'bad' carbohydrates. Sugar = Bad carbs. Rule of thumb - babies should only consume naturally occurring unprocessed foods.

My son has completed his first month strdy and now his weight is 3kg, he was 2. 5kg at the time of birth, so there is a increase of 500gms in one month, is that a good go or he should ve gained more weight in 1month??

@Rake Hi almost all the seasonal fruits can be given to a 10 month old baby. However you need to grate them properly and ensure there are no seeds in the fruits. In the beginning start with one or two spoons and gradually increase the portion size.

@PoojaJain Hi Pooja, you may feed him dairy products like paneer, cheese and add a spoonful of ghee in all the preparations made for him. Like if you are giving him dal scoop a spoonful of ghee as a top up -- not only will it taste delicious it will also help him have a healthy weight gain.

@Sabitha at 22 months I am sure he does not even know what is fussy eating or preferential eating. So try to feed him food that is nutritious and filling. He may eat a bite or two at first and that's ok. Next time give him something else to eat don't give the same thing twice -- this will add variety to his food. But don't try to force feed him as that will only result in alienation of food and power struggles at the meal times.

@ Sojal - There is a slot to put water in the bottom. Once it gets heated, it becomes steam and the steam goes up into the jar and steams the fruits n veggies. Then just flip the jar and use it as a blender with the blades inside the jar. The steamer blender mentioned above is easily available in the market.

@Sabitha - Of course you can start fruit juices and other food items as well. As mentioned above, steam vegetables and other items, blend them and feed it to the baby. Try various combinations and explore what the baby likes.